Monday, February 19, 2018

Monday Afternoon Links

In his speech to delegates, Mr. Singh
lamented income inequality, urged the protection of pensions, called for
publicly funded pharmacare and dental and eye care, and said it is time
to take on "a rigged tax system" that allows foreign internet companies
to avoid paying their fair share.

In
an interview with The Globe and Mail on Sunday morning, he said that he
wants to "change the frame" on taxation because taxes are necessary in a
society where people aim to lift each other up.

"My mom always told me that we are all
connected and we all suffer together or we rise together so there is a
connection that we have," Mr. Singh said. "So, if we look at what we pay
into our society as an investment, it's a different way of looking at
it. You don't look at it as something that's being taken away from you,
as taxes that are being taken away from you, it's something that's being
given back to everybody."

Taxes, he
said, are investments. "And investments are good. You make investments
because you want your home to be better. You invest in your home, you
invest in your local park to make it a prettier park, and you invest in
society to make it better."

- Meanwhile, Caroline Newman points out
Peter Belmi's research on the sources of inequality within both
particular organizations and society at large. And Gaby Hinscliffe comments
on the UK's sad attempt to substitute a voluntary "guilt tax" for the
collection of reasonable revenue from its wealthiest residents.

- Brent Patterson notes that Justin Trudeau is actively trying to push India to sign away its sovereignty through ISDS trade provisions. And Marianne Lavine exposes the U.S.' reliance on the honour system to enforce worker protections - which surely won't be the subject of anywhere near as much pressure from Trudeau.

- Jessica Elgot reports on the hundreds of millions of pounds the UK will be paying in windfall profits to the corporate sector as a result of privatized schools.

- Finally, Robinson Meyer discusses the massive subsidies which underpin the oil industry and its massive profits. And Norman Farrell offers a reminder of the multiple ways in which fossil fuels pollute our environment.